The MDR-Sinfonieorchester (in English, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a German radio orchestra based in Leipzig. It is the

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studio ...

, the public broadcaster for the German states of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

. It is one of the oldest

Radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

s in the world and the oldest in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was founded in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Germany in 1923 (9 months earlier than the

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has also ...

). Apart from a short interruption during World War II, it has been the main orchestra of the Central German Broadcasting Company (MDR) since 1924. The orchestra performs concerts in Leipzig at the

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The fi ...

History

The orchestra was founded as "Orchester des Konzertvereins" ("Orchestra of the Concert Society"). It became the "Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig" ("Radio Symphony Orchestra Leipzig") in 1924 and later adopted its present name. The Orchestra was dissolved during World War II and reunited in 1946 under the tenure of the conductor

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

, later conducted by

Herbert Kegel Herbert Kegel (29 July 1920 – 20 November 1990) was a German conductor. Kegel was born in Dresden. He studied conducting with Karl Böhm and composition with Boris Blacher at the Dresden Conservatory from 1935 to 1940. In 1946 he began c ...

. During the late 1970s through the 1980s, the principal conductors were

Wolf-Dieter Hauschild Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (born 6 September 1937 in Greiz), is a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer. After working for the Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal conductor of th ...

and

Max Pommer Max Pommer (born 9 February 1936) is a German musicologist and conductor, a director of the Leipziger Universitätschor and the founder and conductor of the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum. Career Born in Leipzig, Pommer was a student of th ...

. In 1992, the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra merged with the Radio Philharmonic in Leipzig to form the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Daniel Nazareth Daniel Nazareth (8 June 1948 – 19 June 2014) was an Indian composer and conductor. Early life and education Born in Bombay, Nazareth began violin lessons aged seven. He earned degrees in Commerce and Economics from Bombay University in 1968, ...

was the first Music Director of the newly formed MDR Symphony Orchestra after the German reunification. The orchestra's most recent chief conductor was

Kristjan Järvi Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972, Tallinn) is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer born in Estonia, younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järv ...

, from 2012 to 2018. In November 2019, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist, He is currently the music director and chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard Sch ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2020–2021 season, with an initial contract of 4 years.

Ensembles

Chamber music ensembles of the MDR Symphony Orchestra

* Arcato Streichquartett (since 1999) * Döring-Bläserquintett (since 1982) * Kammersymphonie Leipzig (since 2006) * Leipziger Hornquartett (since 1996) * Leipziger Schlagzeugensemble (since 1983) * Leipziger Blechbläsersolisten (since 1992) * MDR Bläserquintett (since 1995)

Other ensembles

Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler was an ensemble of musicians founded in 1970 in Leipzig with a focus on contemporary classical music, which played several world premieres and toured internationally. The ensemble disbanded in 1993. History The ens ...

(1970–1993) *

Ensemble Sortisatio Ensemble Sortisatio is a quartet (viola, oboe/cor anglais, bassoon and guitar) founded by violist Matthias Sannemüller in 1992 in Leipzig, Germany. Its members are mostly soloists at the MDR Symphony Orchestra. They have specialized in contempo ...

(since 1992)

Principal conductors

Alfred Szendrei Alfred Szendrei, also ''Alfred Sendrey'' and ''Aladár Szendrei'' (29 February 1884 – 3 March 1976) was an American musicologist, organist, conductor, composer of Hungarian origin. He was one of the leading conductors and pioneers of German radi ...

(1924–1932) *

Carl Schuricht Carl Adolph Schuricht (; 3 July 18807 January 1967) was a German conductor. Life and career Schuricht was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), German Empire; his father's family had been respected organ-builders. His mother, Amanda Wusinowska, a widow soo ...

(1931–1933) *

Hans Weisbach Hans Edgar Weisbach (19 July 1885 – 23 April 1961) was a German conductor and pianist. Life Born in Głogów, Silesia, Weisbach came from a family of soldiers. Already from the age of seven he received piano as well as violin lessons and appea ...

(1934–1939) * Reinhold Merten (1939–1940) *

Heinrich Schachtebeck August Louis Hermann Heinrich Schachtebeck (6 August 1886 – 12 March 1965) was a German violinist, conductor and university lecturer. Life Born in Diemarden near Göttingen, Schachtebeck attended the Höhere Bürgerschule in Göttingen an ...

(1945) * Fritz Schröder (1945–1946) * Gerhard Wiesenhütter (1946–1948) *

and

Gerhard Pflüger Gerhard Friedrich Wilhelm Pflüger (9 April 1907 − 24 October 1991) was a German conductor. Life Born in Dresden, Pflüger attended the citizen school and a grammar school in Dresden from 1913 to 1924. He then studied with Kurt Striegler and F ...

(1949–1956) *

(1953–1977) *

(1978–1985) *

(1987–1991) *

(1992–1996) *

Marcello Viotti Marcello Viotti (29 June 195416 February 2005) was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera. Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at the ...

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Biog ...

and

Manfred Honeck Manfred Honeck (born 17 September 1958, in Nenzing) is an Austrian conductor. He is currently the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Early life Honeck was born in Nenzing, Austria, near the border with Switzerland and Liechten ...

(1996–1999) *

(1999–2007) *

Jun Märkl Jun Märkl (born 11 February 1959 in Munich) is a German conductor. Biography Born to a Japanese pianist mother and a German violinist father, Märkl studied piano and the violin as a youth. Beginning in 1978 at the Musikhochschule Hannover he co ...

(2007–2012) *

(2012–2018) *

(2020–)

World premieres

This is a selected list of world premieres given by the orchestra: *

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...

: "Vom ewigen Leben" for soprano and orchestra (1929) *

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

: ''

Der Silbersee ''Der Silbersee: ein Wintermärchen'' (''The Silver Lake: a Winter's Fairy Tale'') is a 'play with music' in three acts by Kurt Weill to a German text by Georg Kaiser. The subtitle is an allusion to Heinrich Heine's 1844 satirical epic poem, '' G ...

'' (1933) *

Fritz Geißler Fritz Geißler (or Geissler) (16 September 1921 in Wurzen, Saxony – 11 January 1984 in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg) was one of the most important composers of the German Democratic Republic. The son of Elsa and Walther Geißler, he was raised in m ...

: Chamber Symphony (1955) *

Rudolf Wagner-Régeny Rudolf Wagner-Régeny (28 August 1903, Szászrégen, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Reghin, Romania) – 18 September 1969, Berlin) was a composer, conductor, and pianist. Born in Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary ...

: Genesis, Cantata for alto, chorus & orchestra (1956) *

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed pro ...

: Symphony No. 3 "The Byron Symphony" with Baritone Solo and Mixed Chorus (1962) *

Günter Kochan Günter Kochan (2 October 1930 – 22 February 2009) was a German composer. He studied with Boris Blacher and was a master student for composition with Hanns Eisler. From 1967 until his retirement in 1991, he worked as professor for musical com ...

: Symphony No. 1 (1963) *

Paul Dessau Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them. Biography Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...

: Requiem for Lumumba (1964) * Paul Dessau: "Deutsches Miserere" for mixed choir, children's choir, soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, large orchestra, organ and trautonium (1966) * Wilhelm Neef: Piano Concerto (1971) *

Udo Zimmermann Udo Zimmermann (6 October 1943 – 22 October 2021) was a German composer, musicologist, opera director, and conductor. He worked as a professor of composition, founded a centre for contemporary music in Dresden, and was director of the Leipzig ...

: L'Homme (1972) *

Edison Denisov Edison Vasilievich Denisov (russian: Эдисо́н Васи́льевич Дени́сов, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called "Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music. B ...

: Cello Concerto (1973) *

Friedrich Schenker Friedrich Schenker (23 December 19428 February 2013) was a German avant-garde composer and trombone player. Life Born in the German town of Zeulenroda, Schenker learned trombone and piano as a child and made his first compositional attempts at ...

: Electrization (1975) *

Siegfried Thiele Siegfried Thiele (born 28 March 1934) is a German composer. From 1990 to 1997 he was rector of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. Life Born in Chemnitz Thiele was born the son of a craftsman. Already at the age of twelve he created h ...

: Jeux pour harpe et orchestre (1975) * Edison Denisov: Piano Concerto (1978) *

Georg Katzer Georg Katzer (; 10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music ...

: Piano Concerto (1980) * Friedrich Schenker: Fanal Spanien 1936 (1981) * Luca Lombardi: Symphony No. 2 (1983) * Wilfried Krätzschmar: Heine Scenes (1983) * Paul-Heinz Dittrich: "Etym" for orchestra (1984) *

Friedrich Goldmann Friedrich Goldmann (27 April 1941 – 24 July 2009) was a German composer and conductor. Life Born on 27 April 1941 in Siegmar-Schönau (since July 1951 incorporated into Chemnitz), Goldmann's music education began in 1951 when he joined the Dr ...

: Symphony No. 3 (1987) *

Karl Ottomar Treibmann Karl Ottomar Treibmann (14 January 1936 – 13 February 2017) was a German composer and music educator. From 1981 until his retirement in 2001, he was professor of music theory and at the Leipzig University. He was one of the representatives of ...

: Symphony No. 4 (1989) * Paul-Heinz Dittrich /

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...

/ Marek Kopelent: Laudatio Pacis (1993) *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

: Concerto per violino ed orchestra No. 2 (1995) *

Carlos Veerhoff Carlos Enrique Veerhoff (3 June 1926 in Buenos Aires – 18 February 2011 in Murnau) was an Argentine-born German composer of classical music. Life and work Carlos Enrique Veerhoff was born with his twin brother, Wolfgang Otto, as premature infant ...

: Symphony No. 6 "Desiderata", for 3 soloists, speaker, chorus & orchestra, Op. 70 (1997) *

Milko Kelemen Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer. Life Milko Kelemen was born in Slatina, Croatia (then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris ...

: Salut au monde (1999) * Friedrich Schenker: Goldberg Passion (1999) *

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

: Penthesilea-Monolog for Soprano and orchestra (2005) *

Jean-Luc Darbellay Jean-Luc Darbellay (born 2 July 1946) is a Swiss composer, conductor, clarinetist and physician. He was chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music and board member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Darbellay is a member of t ...

: Requiem for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra (2005) * Gene Pritsker: '' Cloud Atlas Symphony'' (2012)

References

External links

Official German-language website of the MDR-Sinfonieorchester
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mdr Symphony Orchestra German symphony orchestras Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Music in Leipzig Musical groups established in 1923 Organisations based in Leipzig Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold